25 August, 2016
Dear Parents:
I am writing this letter to introduce myself and to inform you about my philosophies regarding Science Class in the 7th and 8th grade.
I returned to the Middle School last year after 17 years of teaching High School, 14 of which were predominantly in the Industrial Technology department. During most of that time, I was teaching at least one Middle School Block Class, and one High School Science Class; so both situations were not entirely foreign to me.
I had a wonderful time with my Middle Schoolers last year, and I’m looking forward to having a great year again!
My philosophy is that I want to take students to where they need to be so that they earn a good grade, so there are lots of do-overs in my class. Having said that, I want you to know that I DO expect them to work very hard! They need to pay attention in class, and they constantly need to be THINKING about how the individual pieces we are talking about on any given day fit into the whole topic. Assessments are typically very short, and are worth a lot, so students will need to make sure that they are ready for them . . .the best way to prepare is to pay attention along the way, and ask questions about whatever they don’t understand!
As to discipline: My preference is to not have to deal with it. Most of the time, I am successful in motivating kids to do the right thing so that they can be proud of their behavior. Please be assured that if I give a student a strike or a detention (or anything else!), it’s a rare event, and that the student will have been warned multiple times before I resort to formal discipline. I don’t expect kids to be perfect, but I DO expect them to conform to my behavior expectations, which I believe are reasonable.
I’d like to thank you all for entrusting your sons and daughters to my care: it’s a responsibility that I take very seriously.
Sincerely,
Mr. Schroen
IBMS 7th and 8th grade Science
Dear Parents:
I am writing this letter to introduce myself and to inform you about my philosophies regarding Science Class in the 7th and 8th grade.
I returned to the Middle School last year after 17 years of teaching High School, 14 of which were predominantly in the Industrial Technology department. During most of that time, I was teaching at least one Middle School Block Class, and one High School Science Class; so both situations were not entirely foreign to me.
I had a wonderful time with my Middle Schoolers last year, and I’m looking forward to having a great year again!
My philosophy is that I want to take students to where they need to be so that they earn a good grade, so there are lots of do-overs in my class. Having said that, I want you to know that I DO expect them to work very hard! They need to pay attention in class, and they constantly need to be THINKING about how the individual pieces we are talking about on any given day fit into the whole topic. Assessments are typically very short, and are worth a lot, so students will need to make sure that they are ready for them . . .the best way to prepare is to pay attention along the way, and ask questions about whatever they don’t understand!
As to discipline: My preference is to not have to deal with it. Most of the time, I am successful in motivating kids to do the right thing so that they can be proud of their behavior. Please be assured that if I give a student a strike or a detention (or anything else!), it’s a rare event, and that the student will have been warned multiple times before I resort to formal discipline. I don’t expect kids to be perfect, but I DO expect them to conform to my behavior expectations, which I believe are reasonable.
I’d like to thank you all for entrusting your sons and daughters to my care: it’s a responsibility that I take very seriously.
Sincerely,
Mr. Schroen
IBMS 7th and 8th grade Science